Baltimore Orioles: The Darren O’Day conondrum

FOX’s Ken Rosenthal tweeted about now former Baltimore Orioles’ reliever Darren O’Day earlier this week. In effect, Rosenthal’s stance is that O’Day and agent Scott Boras are looking for a deal in the $28-$36 million range over four years. Needless to say, that’s a lot of money.

Rosenthal’s pretty plugged in across the board; if he’s saying that, I’d tend to believe him. Whether or not Boras is able to deliver a contract of that sort remains to be seen, however there’s no doubt they’re looking for something in that range.And reportedly plenty of teams – including the Orioles – are listening.

Courtesy of Tommy Gilligan-USA TODAY Sports

The Orioles have already said that they could afford to keep Davis and Wieters. But what about O’Day? The question is whether or not all three of those (plus Chen) would tax the Orioles’ payroll too much. Here’s the other thing; if O’Day commands the lower side of that range, it comes out to approximately $7 million per year. If he gets the higher side, he’s looking at $9 million per year.

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$9 million per year is what former Oriole Andrew Miller got from New York last year. And I said that the Orioles were smart not to offer him a contract for that amount, given the fact that he’s a one inning reliever. I thought then, and I still think now, that $9 million per season is too much to pay for a guy who pitches one inning per game. Unless we’re talking about one of the greatest closers of all time (think Eckersley or Rivera), it’s tough to justify.

The variable in this situation is that O’Day has rapport with the Orioles and the fans. Miller effectively played less than half a season in Baltimore. He was great while he was here for sure, and there was almost as much complaining that the Orioles let him walk as there was with Cruz. But O’Day is a leader in the clubhouse and a fan favorite. It would be a void that would be tough to fill, needless to say.

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Is that part of the equation enough to justify the Orioles giving that kind of money away for a one-inning reliever? That’s really tough to say. And quite frankly I can’t even tell you where I stand on it because I just don’t know – yet. I think I would still lean towards saying that’s too much to spend on a one-inning guy. But it’s a really tough choice to make.

Next: Baltimore Orioles: Neil Walker to the Birds?

My personal opinion is that O’Day will end of elsewhere. And at the end of the day it’s a business decision. Of course raw emotion says to keep the guy. However either way, luckily these decisions are made from a business standpoint and not an emotional one.